1. Field of Invention
The invention lies in the field of the further processing of printed products and relates, in particular, to an apparatus and a method for inserting flat objects into a folded printed product, for example an envelope. Flat objects of this type are, for example, further printed products, printed preproducts or additional products, parts of newspapers, test samples, brochures, flyers and other inserts. The invention serves, for example, to produce a multiple part printed product.
2. Description of Related Art
In order to insert flat objects between the two product parts of a folded printed product, it is known to transfer the printed products coming from the rotary printing press to a separate apparatus, to hold it in the latter and to open it, to insert the flat objects and to remove the end product produced in this way and to convey it further. The apparatuses which have previously been used for this purpose, for example according to EP-A 0 588 764 or EP-A 1 090 867, comprise circulating systems with a plurality of compartments which are moved along a circular circulating track about a rotational axis by being arranged on a rigid rotational body, for example a wheel. The feed stations for the printed products and the objects to be inserted are arranged at the periphery of the circulating system. The printed products are introduced into the compartments with the fold at the front and are opened and held open by an opening device, with the result that the flat objects can be introduced into the opened product. The compartments are defined by dividing walls which extend in the substantially radial direction. The orientation of the compartments, that is to say the direction of an imaginary line or surface between two adjacent dividing walls, is radial. Inter alia, this makes a maximum large opening of the compartments possible, with the result that there are tolerances when the products are pushed in.
Similar apparatuses with substantially radially oriented compartments are known from documents FR-A 1 323 844, DE-B 12 62 298, U.S. Pat. No. 3,420,516 or DE-A 14 36 585.
However, a disadvantage of the known devices is the great accelerations which the products are subjected to during insertion into the compartments on account of the directional change between the feed direction and the direction of conveying in the circulating system. A further problem arises in the adaptation to different formats: the spacing between the two dividing walls varies to a very pronounced extent with the radius, on which the spacing is measured. Since the products are normally fixed in the compartments at their edges which lie radially on the outside, shorter products are spread open to a greater extent during opening than longer products and are therefore loaded undesirably in some circumstances. Finally, the compartments have to have a certain depth, in order for it to be possible to process products with a predefined maximum format. The radial orientation of the compartments leads here to comparatively large diameters of the system.